‘“Rule 1 for usability testing: get representative users” Read something like that? Said something like that? I certainly have. And I definitely agree with it, on the whole. But not always: so I thought I’d muse on the issue inContinue reading… Differences between participants and users: representative or not?
Blog
How to enhance your site with Flash
‘Heard any of these remarks lately? ‘Flash is bad’; ‘I hate Flash intros’; ‘Don’t do Flash’. My long-term view has been that Flash is just another technology. Bad if it’s gratuitous showing off; good if it works for your usersContinue reading… How to enhance your site with Flash
Conducting a User-Centred Expert Review
This presentation to the 2007 Annual Conference of the Society for Technical Communication sets out five steps for a user-centred review – whether you have 30 minutes, two days or five days in which to do the work. We lookContinue reading… Conducting a User-Centred Expert Review
Usability as a legal requirement: leaflets for medicines
At the recent Information Design conference, Karel van der Waarde told us about the impact that European legislation has had on patient information leaflets. These are the pieces of paper that come with every medicine. European Law requires usability InContinue reading… Usability as a legal requirement: leaflets for medicines
How to write good FAQs
FAQs don’t have that great a reputation, but recently, I’ve been working on FAQs for a client. Their computer help desk was annoyed about answering the same things again and again. Why not divert potential callers to a FAQ instead?Continue reading… How to write good FAQs
Good headings help, bad headings hurt
I’ve been on the road recently, teaching my ‘Editing that Works’ workshops to teams of web content providers in a government department. ‘Choose what to say,’ I urge them. And do it like this: apply temporary headings to your text,Continue reading… Good headings help, bad headings hurt
How to get clients to look at wireframes properly
It was the same old story. I was working with Whitney Quesenbery on some wireframes for a client’s website. As usual, she’d done a lovely job on the design. As usual, I’d fussed around with content. We’d done our usualContinue reading… How to get clients to look at wireframes properly
Label placement in forms
For ages, I’ve longed to do some eyetracking experiments on how users look at forms. And recently, I’ve been delighted to see the next best thing: excellent work by Matteo Penzo and his team. Experienced users look for the searchContinue reading… Label placement in forms
Real SnailMail and other stories
Do you ever find yourself wondering if your daily work is becoming a bit repetitive; somewhat samey? The British HCI group conference, HCI2006 www.hci2006.org, broke through that ‘same old, same old’ barrier triumphantly for me. Long and short papers IContinue reading… Real SnailMail and other stories
Why people persist with using paper forms
Have you ever wondered why your shiny new online form isn’t getting the use it deserves, and the boring old paper still keeps pouring in? This month, I’ve been mostly thinking about tax forms – and tax forms on paper.Continue reading… Why people persist with using paper forms